Report finds no failures in Altadena evacuations. Critics decry lack of accountability

A new outside review commissioned by the Los Angeles County Fire Department concluded there was no failure in firefighters’ decision-making regarding evacuation orders during the Eaton fire. The review said incident command could not reasonably have requested evacuations earlier because it was not aware the fire was moving into west Altadena. The report did not identify shortcomings related to evacuation alerts. It cited long-standing conditions such as canyon-aligned streets and dense neighborhoods with heavy tree canopies, along with strong winds and limited intelligence from aircraft overhead, as factors that made stopping fire spread impossible. County officials stated unified command did not engage in misconduct or intentionally delay evacuation decisions affecting areas west of Lake Avenue.

"More than a year after the deadly Eaton fire swept through Altadena, killing 19 people, a new, outside review of firefighters' decision-making concluded "there was no failure" by L.A. County fire officials in ordering evacuations."

"The report, released Monday and commissioned by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, found that incident command could not have "reasonably" requested evacuation orders for the area earlier because they weren't aware the fire was moving into west Altadena."

"The new 51-page report, however, doesn't acknowledge any shortcomings related to the evacuation alerts. Rather, it points out that many conditions that had existed there for years - streets aligning with the canyons, dense neighborhoods with heavy tree canopies that can help spread fire - combined with the strong winds and lack of intelligence from aircraft overhead "made stopping the fire spread impossible.""

"L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who has previously said there was a "breakdown" in how evacuation alerts went out, said the new report found that "Unified Command did not engage in misconduct or intentionally delay evacuation decisions affecting areas west of Lake Avenue.""

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